A popular picture of the neutron star has been a solid crust on top of a liquid, possibly superfluid. Now some theorists also envision a solid core. Such a picture might explain the disparity between the slowing‐down rates of the Crab and Vela pulsars. These ideas on neutron stars were discussed at the symposium on Physics of Dense Matter held in Boulder at the end of August. Another exotic state of matter discussed at the meeting is a mixture of protons, neutrons and negative pions.